Moving On
by LJG-NCIS
Summary: Post Twilight. My take on what will happen in the premiere, and after. Please R&R, Prologue now up and Chapter 4 now up!
1. Chapter 1

1Disclaimer: Ok, as you all probably know, I don't own NCIS or anything to do with it. That all belongs to DPB, CBS, and Paramount.

A/N: This is a what I think might happen (Ok, well, it probably won't) based on pictures I have seen from the premiere, and also from commercials on CBS.

MOVING ON

Prologue:

It had been one month since it happened. They hadn't gotten a new case since then, but that was probably a good thing, since they wouldn't have been very focused; and wouldn't have been able to do their job very well. They were all still stumbling around in a stupefied shock from Kate's death, It was like they were in a parallel universe, where reality doesn't hit you right away. It was like all of their senses had been dulled, and you could put your hand on a stove burner, but you wouldn't feel the heat and pain until 10 minutes after you initially touched it.

Even thought they hadn't gotten a new case in that month, a lot had still happened. A new agent had arrived at NCIS. She was Ziva David, transferred in from Cental America. She was stationed in D. C. because she was after Ari too. She joined the team a week after Kate's death. She was very flirtatious, outgoing, but still a good agent and a nice person. Maybe if she hadn't come so soon after Kate's death, Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Abby, and Ducky had a little more time to grieve and heal, then maybe it would have worked out. But every member of the team gave her the cold shoulder, even Abby and Ducky. 10 days after she had first joined Gibbs team, Ziva transferred to another team. Also, Director Morrow had resigned when he was offered a job at JAG. Nobody, not even Gibbs, knew who the replacement was going to be. They had been left in the dark, but frankly, they didn't care. They were too preoccupied with their own grieving.

Please R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Same as Prologue

Chapter 1- The First Case

"We've got a body," Gibbs said as he walked briskly into the bullpen. His voice snapped McGee and Tony out of their reverie. They had been staring at their computer screens, eyes slightly glazed over.

"Grab your gear and get the keys to the sedan," he said as he pulled his Sig out of his desk drawer. McGee and Tony, finally registering what he was saying, got out their own guns and equipment.

As they walked to the sedan Gibbs brought Tony and McGee up to date.

"The victim is a Petty Officer Jonathan Wallace. He was found in his apartment by his neighbor, Winnie Thompsoms, and elderly woman."

"How old is she Gibbs?" Tony had now taken to calling him Gibbs instead of Boss, just like Kate had.

"83. She went over to ask him if he had any flour. She was making cookies, and she didn't have enough."

By that time they had reached the sedan and were pulling out of the parking lot. Gibbs no longer drove like a possessed maniac. He vowed to himself that he would obey the ruled of the road until he had killed Ari. He didn't want to take any chances by getting into an accident before he had killed Kate's murderer.

They drove in silence for a short while until they had arrived to the town of Bowie, Maryland. Each of the three men were buried in their won thoughts. Soon they pulled up to a small apartment building. It was a real fixer-upper. Shutters were barely hanging on by their hinges, and were creaking noisily. The mustard yellow paint was peeling, like the bark of an old dead birch tree. In the past Tony probably would have made a wise crack, earning him a slap on the back of the head from Gibbs, and an exasperated roll of the eyes from Kate. But those times were past, and the three forlorn agents walked into the apartment in complete and utter silence.

After flashing their badges to the owner, the three walked up to the second story where the P.O.'s apartment was. They pulled on their gloves and opened the door.

The apartment was trashed. Furniture was tipped over. There was a desk overturned in the corner, a crushed Dell computer nearby. Papers littered the floor, and blood covered the walls, dripping down the walls like tiny river of death.

The only thing intact was the full-sized bed in another corner of the room. The body was on the bed.

"McGee, call Ducky, and then take pictures of the crime scene. Tony, go find the old woman and see what she has to say. When you've done that come back and dst for prints."

"Yes Gibbs."

"Yes Boss." Tony and McGee said simutaneously. Tony hurried across the hall, and McGee flipped open his cell.

"We have a body Ducky. We're in Bowie, Maryland, about 20 to 25 miles away from D.C. The address is 38 Shackle Road, in a yellow, broken down apartment building. The apartment number is 14B, on the second story. Ok Dycky, see you soon."

For the next half hour the three special agents worked dilligently at the crime scene. The work was welcome. It made them focus on something besides Kate. On the other hand, though, they were all depressed. This was their first case without Kate.

They worked methodically, settling inot the comforting routine of dusting for prints, examining, and snapping pictures. Soon Ducky and Jimmy arrived. By then McGee was done taking pictures of the crime scene, and was trying to retieve the hard drive from the destroyed computer so Abby could try to extract some information out of it. Tony had also finished his tasks, and was getting blood samples off of the walls to take to Abs for analysis.

"What have we got here Jethro?"

"A male Petty Officer. Jonathan Wallace. He's on the bed over there."

The M.E. and his assistant walkd over to the lifeless corpse. Ducky stuck his thermometer into the flesh, then pulled it back out after a few minutes.

"Estimated TOD is 0830 to 0930."

"That matches when the old lady found him. She said that she came over at around 0900."

"COD Duck?"

"Well Jethro," Ducky said while examining the body, "it appears that his throat was slit from behind. He was also stabbed in the stomach, but that was not fatal." Ducky pointed to large but not deep knife wound in the Petty Officer's stomach.

"I would say that he out up quite a fight, thus resulting with the blood all over the walls, and the over-turned furniture."

"Ok Ducky, is there anything else?"

"Not that I can think of Jethro. I will be able to tell you more once we get him home." Ducky turned his attention to his young assistant.

"Come on Jimmy, let's take him back home so we can get a better look at him, shall we?"

"Yes Doctor," the M.E. in-training said.

The two commenced to putting the deceased in the black body bag and carrying it away.

"Boss, over here, I think I found something." After snapping its picture, McGee had taken the mattress off of the bed, where he had discovered something very interesting.

On the bottom of the mattress a hole had been cut, and then replaced. Carefully Gibbs pulled out the square hunk ot mattress. Concealed inside was a large steak knife, covered in blood.

"I think we just found our murder weapon."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Same as the other chapters.

A/N: Ok, here's where the supernatural genre comes in... Please R&R!

Chapter 2- An Eerie Visit

Back at NCIS HQ, Tony was all alone in the bullpen, pulling up the file on Jonathan Wallace. McGee was helping Abby with the many things she had to work on, and Gibbs was in the morgue with Ducky.

Tony felt it hard to concentrate on the task at hand. His eyes kept wandering over to the empty desk that was next to his. Kate's desk.

Sighing heavily, Tony pulled up the picture of Kate, the one he had gotten at the Wet T-Shirt Hall Of Fame in Panama City. He felt so bad about blackmailing her with it. If only he hadn't felt so mean. If only he hadn't been so immature. If only...

Tony heard a slight rustling sound. It was coming from the direction o Kate's desk.

"Gibbs? McGee? Is that you?"

"He swivelled his chair around. Nobody was there. Heart racing, Tony forced himself to take deep breaths and calm down.

"Hello Tony. Or should I say, Sex Machine?"

"Kate, is that you?" Tony was seriously freaked out now. His mind and heart were racing, he felt faint. _Dinozzos do not pass out_, he reminded himself. Even f they are being contacted by their dead partner.

"Who else would it be?" The voice was closer this time, right from the other side of Tony's desk.

Tony swivelled his chair again.

And there she was.

Tony blinked. She was still there. Rubbed his eyes. Still there. Shook his head to clear it out. Still there. He even pinched himself. But this was no dream.

Caitlyn Todd was standing in fronyt of his desk. And she was in a Catholic school girl's uniform. And she had died, snipered right through the forehead, a month ago.

"Did you miss me Tony?"

"I've missed you so bad it hurts Kate. So bad that it's tearing me up inside. But.. how are you...here? Are you a...ghost?"

"I'm not a ghost Tony, or a dream. I'm just a presence. You guys are going to end up killing yourselves. Pull yourself together, and don't worry about me. It didn't hurt, I didn't feel a thing. I miss you all so much. And I want you to know that I'll be there whenever you need me."

"But why the uniform?"

"That's how you always wanted to see me."

Tony heard the elevatot ding. Gibbs was coming back from the morgue.

"Don't worry, you're the only one that can see me right now. I show myself to who I want when I want. I have to go now Tony, there are others that need me. Goodbye Tony." She grabbed his hand and kissed it, then gave him a little wave. A wind picked up, and Kate's skirt blew up all around her. And then she was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

1Disclaimer: Same as the previous chapters.

A/N: Ohhh, the premiere is in a few hours! Also a little language in this chapter. Please R&R!

Chapter 3

After she had left Tony noticed that a piece of folded paper had fluttered to the floor after Kate had left. He picked it up. It was a portrait of Tony, not the caricature, but the one McGee had caught her drawing the day before she died. Tony quickly picked it up and put it into his desk drawer. He had tears in his eyes. Gibbs entered the bullpen then, not 10 seconds after Kate pulled her Houdini act.

"What have you found out about our dead P. O. Dinozzo?"

"Not much Gibbs, I sorta got distracted." Normally this would have earned Tony yet another slap on the head and an annoyed glare from Gibbs, but things were no longer normal, and all Gibbs said was,

"Well, what did you get?"

"He's 29, and joined the Marines 4 months ago. He has never been deployed. Lives alone, no known girlfriend either. And that's about it."

"Ok Tony, keep looking. But before you do that, go get McGee and tell him to find out who the CO is. He's with Abby in the lab."

"Will do Gibbs."

Gibbs turned on his heel and re-entered the elevator. Before Tony could join him, the door slid shut.

"Ok, I guess I'll take the stairs."

A few minutes later Tony walked into the forensics lab.

"Tim" (Tony no longer called him "Probie", since Kate's death he only called him Tim.), "Gibbs wants you to find out who the victim's CO is."

"Sure thing Tony." With that being said McGee walked through the sliding glass doors of the forensic lab, and into the elevator.

"Thanks for holding the door Tim." Tony said under his breath. "Well, at least I'm getting my exercise."

So he took the stairs back down to the bullpen and resumed his search for info on the P.O.

Abby was sitting alone in her lab. She was running the prints that she found on the knife on AFIS, was comparing the P.O.'s blood to the blood on the knife, and doing countless other tasks, such as fiber analysis. Now all she had to do was wait until the computers gave her the results. Heavy meta music was playing in the backround, but not quite as loud as she used to. She took a sip out of her Caffeine-free Coke and thought about her best friend.

Abby now wore more tasteful clothes, still Goth, but less skull and cross bones. And more just plain black. As a sign of mourning she wore her jet-black hair down, not in the familiar pigtails jutting out of the sides of her head. Abby had also stopped drinking Caf-Pow, or "The caffeine crap", as Kate used to call it. Now Abby stuck to Coke and water. She played her music a little less loudly, and she was no longer the effervescent ball of sunshine everyone knew and loved. The death had changed all of that, but she was still the same old Abby, just a little different.

While the numerous computers whirred and hummed, Abby went over to one of her desks and pulled out her most prized possession.

She went over and sat in her beloved swirly chair, then propped the paper up against the side of one of her computers.

Kate had captured Abby so well, even if it just was Abby's head on a bat's body. It was the essence of Abby, and Kate had drawn it perfectly.

Abby sat and stared at the portrait of herself for a long time. After a while she noticed that her music was no longer playing. She would have known if McGee, Tony, or Ducky had walked in. She might not have noticed if Gibbs, had walked in, but she knew that he was out "getting coffee." He had been doing that a lot lately, even more than before Kate's death, and he was always out for long periods of time.

But Abby knew better. She had tracked him once, using the GPS chip in his cell phone to see where he went. He was nowhere near Starbucks, or any other coffee shop. He was at the D.C. cemetery. That was where Kate was buried.

Abby was mystefied. She got up and turned her music back on. Silence unnerved her. After she had turned the music back on Abby went back to her chair and continued to gaze at her picture. She had no idea that the artist of that drawing was standing right behind her.

Kate was standing behind Abby, watching her with sad eyes. Kate went over and turned the stereo off again.

"What the hell-?" Abby quickly stood up. She nearly fainted in shock. Standing in front of her was her best friend. Her _dead_ best friend.

Abby had always been interested in the paramormal. Ok, she was obsessed. But her faith had slowly died after a month went by and Kate hadn't tried to contact her. But here she was, face to face, with the Kate she knew, and the Kate she had always wanted to see. A Goth Kate.

She had bleach-blonde hair. She wore all black, and jewelry hung off of her like tinsel on a Christmas tree. On her neck she wore a large pendant in the shape of a cross.

"Oh my God Kate! You're like me! And you're...alive?" The reality of what she was seeing hit Abby then. "Whoa, I gotta sit down. This is kinda waaaay too hinky. So are you, you?"

"I'm me, but not the me you knew before. Before you ask, I'm not a ghost, this isn't a dream, and I'm not a ghoul or alien or anything like that. I'm a presence, here to help you and the team."

"Well what took you so long Kate? I've been waiting for a month to hear from you. I thought that you forgot about me. And why are you, you know, Goth?"

"I've been watching you and the guys for a while. But I've come to tell you that all of you are in great danger. I can't tell you exactly when or what will happen; I don't even know myself. I just have this sinking feeling of dread, and I have a feeling that this is no bete noir. I mean, remeber the last time one of us had a premonition?"

"How could I forget?"

"Anyway, I'm Goth because that's how you always wanted to see me. So that's how I appeared to you. And I think that I'd better tell you about this dream I had the night before I died, when all of us stayed overnight here with Gibbs. In the dream, I had woken up. It was morning, and Tony and Tim were still asleep. Gibbs was sitting at his desk."

"What's so weird about that?"

"He was dead. His throat was slit, and then I turned around and Ari was there. Then he said, 'Did you miss me Caitlin?'"

"That bastard."

The computers started beeping. The blood analysis was done.

"I have to go now Abs. Friends Forever, right?"

"Friends forever." Abby echoed.

"Remember what I said Abby."

The breeze picked up again, and then Kate was gone. The strength of the wind died down, and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor. Abby picked it up.

On it was another drawing. It was of Abby, hair down, sitting at her computer in her swirly chair. Behind Abby, Kate had also drawn herself, Goth-style. It was exactly how Abby had just seen her. Abby put her two pictures away, then sat down in her chair and cried. And Abby never cries. Never ever ever.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Same as all the other chapters.

Chapter 4

Gibbs was the only one in the cemetery. It had started to rain, a dampening drizzle that soaked you to the bone. The weather mirrored Gibbs' feeling to some extent, but neither the strongest monsoon or the wildest hurricane could even get close to matching to how Gibbs felt now.

He sat in the wet grass, next to the white marble tombstone. It read simply: Caitlin Todd. 1973-2005. She will be greatly missed by all that knew her.

Gibbs would never forget the funeral, even if he lived to be 130 years old. It had been a beautiful day. It was like the sky was mocking him. Or it was Kate smiling down at him. Gibbs wasn't sure. The funeral was small; family, a few people she new from the Secret Service and Air Force One, and of course Abby, Tony, Tim, Ducky, Fornell, ex-Director Morrow, and Gibbs. Many wept; Gibbs did not. The tears didn't some until after the funeral, back at his house in the safety of his basement Gibbs cried into his beloved boat, letting the tears come freely.

One month had seemed like one millennium without Kate there. Gibbs visited her grave almost every day, sometimes staying for almost an hour. He couldn't stay too long; he knew that Kate wouldn't have wanted him to slack off on the job, especially because of her.

Gibbs made himself not cry whenever he was at the funeral, not to let the tears come flooding out. His agents couldn't see their boss falling apart, things were rough enough already.

Despite his effort a few tears leaked out of Gibbs eyes. Gibbs leaned against the great oak tree that grew near Kate's grave, and stared up into the heavens.

There was a slight breeze, making the rain seem even colder. Gibbs felt a slight touch on his shoulder. It was like Kate was standing there beside him.

'Pull yourself together Jethro. Stop imagining things. And stop talking to yourself', he added as an afterthought.

"You're not imagining things Leroy Jethro Gibbs. But I might be. Imagine you, being here at the cemetery instead of at your job!"

Gibbs couldn't believe it. But he knew his eyesight wasn't _that_ bad. And he knew he wasn't dreaming, his dreams were always haunted by images of Ari laughing maniacally, and he always saw Kate being shot over and over again. There was one thing Gibbs knew for sure. This...thing, was solid. Kate Todd was standing in front of him, and this sure as hell was no ghost.


End file.
